A day in the life of Dave Robinson would not be complete without a little Beatles music.

“Their music relaxes me and puts me in a different place,” said the 53-year-old drummer and Rockford native.

Luckily being a member of BritBeat, touted as America’s premier tribute to the Beatles, allows him to play the original Fab Four’s songs “Eight Days A Week.”

The Chicago band, which recently played at Rockford’s Festa Italiana, strives for the same look and feel that the boys from Liverpool had back in their heyday. Robinson portrays Ringo Starr, a role he said he was born to play.

“I always followed Ringo when I was a kid because of the energy,” he said. “I would watch him on TV and I loved how crazy he got. It fit me because I was a really hyper kid.”

“I take it serious and try to keep things fresh,” he said. “I’m always trying to improve. If you’re a tribute band, that means getting as close as possible to the real thing. I watch videos of Beatles’ performances and I pick up things every time. I’ll see something like a cool head bob and I tell myself I should try that next show. I try to add things and try to get better. Like my right elbow swing, I’m still working on it to get it just right like Ringo does it. I can get close, but nobody’s as good at being Ringo as Ringo.”

Robinson, a mainstay in the Rockford music scene, joined BritBeat in 2008. He and BritBeat founder Chris Getsla, 32, came together while both were subbing for a different tribute band.

“What impressed me about Dave is that he was a left-handed drummer the first time I saw him play,” said Getsla, who plays Paul McCartney. “Ringo was a left-handed drummer, too, but played a right-handed kit. When I showed up for the performance, Dave was playing a right-handed kit. He’d switched exactly like Ringo. That impressed me. I knew he was the right fit for BritBeat.”

Getsla founded the band in 2000 and said BritBeat is an authentic recreation of the Beatles’ look, mannerisms, costuming, instrumentation and vocal harmonies. The show is described as a visual, multimedia and theatrical experience with music ranging from their U.S. debut on Ed Sullivan through “Sgt. Pepper” and “Abbey Road” albums.

Page 2 of 2 - “BritBeat is more than a concert. We’re putting on a show,” he said. “It’s not something you can see once and say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen it.’ We like people leaving the show saying, ‘I have to see you again because you can’t take it in all at once.’”

Getsla and Robinson said a BritBeat event is more akin to a magical tour taking the crowd back to 1964.

“We absolutely aim for authenticity,” Getsla said. “The details — guitars, costumes, hair, all the visual parts — are designed to be as authentic as possible. We want the crowd to feel like they’re seeing a real Beatles concert.”

BritBeat shows take listeners through all eras of Beatles music, and Robinson said the band has really got a hold on the fans.

“We have every single age in the crowd,” he said. “We’ve had 10- (and) 11-year-olds screaming the words to the songs. It’s great. All our shows have been hot. We keep saying ‘that was our best show’ but then we got out the next time and keep topping ourselves.”

BritBeat’s next Illinois show is at the Taste of Highland Park on Aug. 27.